The ability to listen has long been extolled as one of the social graces. But above all human considerations the ability to discern the voice of Truth and listen to its utterances is essential to spiritual growth.
Listening, as understood in Christian Science, denotes not a passive but an active quality of thought. It involves the silencing of human will and the quelling of impatience. It presupposes humility, obedience, and submission to the divine Mind. Spiritual listening is not undivided unless one has silenced material thinking, for the so-called human or carnal mind is not a corridor to the divine. Paul tells us (Rom. 8:7), "The carnal mind is enmity against God." And Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, says (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 89), "Spirit, God, is heard when the senses are silent."
Christian Scientists do not listen for a merely human voice. While the Bible abounds in references to the voice of God, which the patriarchs heard and followed, it was to them, as it is to us in this age, the Word of Truth coming to the human consciousness. Silent utterances pervade the realm of the real. They are the ideas of Truth speaking to men through the ages, and are heard by those whose spiritual ear is open to hear, whose apprehension is susceptible to Truth.
